MANCHESTER, England -- Mikel Arteta has suggested "the Premier League starts again" after Arsenal were beaten at Manchester City on Sunday but insisted the Gunners still believe they can win the title.
Erling Haaland's 65th-minute winner gave City a crucial 2-1 win in a hard-fought match at Etihad Stadium to move within three points of leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.
That match comes on Wednesday against Burnley and victory would mean City went top on either goals scored or goal difference for the first time since the opening weekend of the season.
Kai Havertz canceled out Rayan Cherki's brilliant 16th-minute opener and had chances to score at 1-1 and again in stoppage time to salvage a point as Arsenal stayed true to Arteta's prematch assertion that they would go for the win.
But defeat leaves them facing the prospect of their 22-year wait for a title extending into another season having finished as runners-up in the previous three campaigns.
Mikel Arteta's hopes of lifting the Premier League trophy took a major blow on Sunday after his Arsenal team lost at Manchester City. Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images "The Premier League starts again, almost," Arteta said. "They have a game in hand, we are three points ahead, five games to play so game on.
"Everything is still to play for. So we know how much we've won it and we're not going to stop and we're going to go again, that's for sure.
"Today if they need to be more convinced, I think they are now more convinced. They were talking about it in the dressing room."
Pushed on whether he needed to lift a squad whose mentality has been repeatedly questioned, Arteta said: "If I have to pick the players to win the Premier League with five games to go in our hands and be in the final of the Champions League, I think I should be at home.
"So it's not the case. It's not needed. It's never been needed, even in difficult moments. So we will [go] again, that's for sure.
"Obviously, they were very disappointed not to get a result from the game in the manner that it happened. That's the feeling, immediately you could tell that they were talking about, and they said, 'OK, we lost an opportunity today, but we have the biggest one now in the next five games, so let's do it.'"
- Cherki, Haaland give Man City advantage over Arsenal in title race